Drug trafficking menace: Mizoram Governor calls for tighter security along Myanmar border
Mizoram shares a 510-km porous border with Myanmar, making it a key transit route for drug trafficking networks in the Northeast region.
Mizoram Governor General (retired) VK Singh on Wednesday stressed on the need to strengthen security along the state’s border with Myanmar to combat the menace of drug trafficking and drug abuse.
Addressing the inaugural sitting of the budget session of the state assembly, Singh emphasised the importance of safeguarding the state’s international boundary, but noted that the overall law and order situation in Mizoram remains largely peaceful.
“In order to ensure that international border areas are secured from anti-national elements, the Mizoram Police, along with border forces such as Assam Rifles and the BSF, is patrolling these areas,” he said.
Mizoram shares a 510-km porous border with Myanmar, making it a key transit route for drug trafficking networks in the Northeast region. The Governor stressed that the state government, led by chief minister Lalduhoma, is taking stringent measures to tackle the drug menace, which has claimed hundreds of lives over the years.
Governor Singh said that in the current financial year alone, 600 drug traffickers had been arrested and prosecuted, with 441 cases registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act of 1985. A total of 429.116 kg of various narcotic drugs have been seized so far in this period.
“The menace of drug trafficking and abuse has assumed alarming proportions and is of great concern to my government,” he said.
According to the Mizoram Excise and Narcotics Department, 71 people, including 11 women, died due to drug abuse in the state in 2024. Since 1984, when the first drug-related death was recorded, Mizoram has lost 1,881 people, including 230 women, to drug abuse.
The budget session will continue until March 20 with Lalduhoma, who also holds the finance portfolio, set to present the state’s budget on March 4.